V-belt drive system



Feb. 16, .1960 I J, Voss ml. 2,925,293

I V-BELT DRvIVE SYSTEM Filed April `'7. 1958 FIGZ V-BELT DRIVE SYSTEM Otto J. Voss, Town and Country, and Loren Willhoft,

- Frontenac, Mo.

Application April 7, 1958, Serial No. 726,6796 1 Claim, (Cl. 287-53) This inventionrelates to V-belt drives, and more par--l ticularly to a system of locking a narrow V-belt pulleyv on its shaft. A y

It will be understood that V-belt drives are used 1n necessarilzyiaiiei ibleionly,when width the pulley toward the end of the shaft. The pulley is formedwith a center bore as heretofore, and/this bore is then Ytapped great numbers, andin those uses affording the greatest volume market, increasing competitive conditions require a reduction in the cost and size of the V-belt drive. An

effective way ofachieving lesser costs yis to reduce the width of the belt and its associated pulley, but this ap proach introduces a problem in attaching the narrow pulley to its shaft. The conventional practice has been to provide a tat area or keyway on the shaft and a cooperatingset screw on the pulley. While the pulleyy may be formed .with an axiallyprojecting hub for receiving the set screw, it is more economical to eliminate the hub' by locating the set screw in the bottom of the V groove. This procedure is not feasible, however, 'with the nar- -rower V-belt drives now contemplated.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to `prov-ide an improved V belt drive system wherein a narrow hubless pulley is secured on the shaft of a non-reversing drive,

ysuch nonereversing drives constituting the bulk ofr theY market. Among theseveral other objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a V-belt drive of this type which permits the pulley to be readily attached or removed from the shaft; the rprovision of a system of attaching the pulley to the shaft which affords considerable savings; and the provisionV of a system of attaching 4the drive tothe shaft that does not require complicated or bulky tools.

Other features ofthe invention will be in part apparent from and in part pointed out in the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. lis a longitudinal section illustrating the inventive feature of a V-belt drive system;

Fig. 2 is a right end view of the device shown in Fig. 1; and 1 Fig. 3 is an exploded view illustrating the shaft and pulley of this invention. t n

Referring to -the drawings, there is shown a drive systemincluding a shaft 1 and associated drive pulley 3.

Necessarily, the pulley should be truly concentric with simple task. A flattened larea or keyway is then formed on the shaft beneaththe pulley, and a set screwistapped or threaded into the pulley forlocking Yengagea-lent withV the flattened areaor keyway. TheA pulley might-have a,"

hub specially formed for receiving a set screw, or a more economical practice involves omitting the hub and drilling a hole from -the bottom of therV ofthe pulleyin'wardly so that-the Vset screwisaccessible from :the periphery of the pulley. e y., Y

While these systems have proved to be satisfactory, they -thereof may be milled tlat as indicated at 15 or alter- Y natively, a polygonal socket 17 may be formed kat the e Aforcesyvithout breaking the pulley.,

' described here.

(including hub)"`is' above' Lapredeteimined minimum value.. 'Forfexampla the hub mustbefwide in order to accommodate a set screw of adequate size and strength, or if the screw is located in the pulley, then the width of the pulleyY must be sucient to accommodate a set screw of sufficient size.

The present invention contemplates elimination of the 'set screw and the hub, the pulley instead being secured to the shaft by means of a tapering threaded connection.

The taper threads are of the type normally employed in e threaded lengths of pipe, hence the equipment for manufacturing the pulleyandtshaft isireadily available; and theY f manufacturing operations are comparatively inexpensive. In the drawings, the end ofy theshaft 1 is formed with a shortsection of taper threads'5, and the'taper being with threads 7, which taper from one side 9 to the other The particular type oftaper side ofthe pulley 11. thread `may varyl from standard pipe threads, to Acme threads, which latterare adapted to `withstand,greater ,Inorder to lfacilitate assembly ofathe pulley with the shaft and provide for a'reasonably firm connection, the one side 9 of the pulley is further provided with one or more small cavities 13 forV cooperation lwith a spanner v wrench, which areV well known in the art henceare not Also, the shaft 1 may be adapted for gripping by means of a wrench to prevent its rotation during assembly with the pulley. For example, portions function and mode of operation of the invention herein i disclosed, and appreciate the advantages thereof. Although one embodiment has been disclosed in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but the drawings and description thereof are to be understood as being merely illustrative. p It is realized that many modifications and variations will present themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope thereof as set forth in the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by LettersvPatent is;

In a V-belt drive; the improvement that comprises a V-belt pulley of uniform width and having substantially tiat faces, a peripheral V-shaped groove formed in said pulley, said V-shaped groove being of a width to extend substantially acrossY the full width of the pulley at the periphery thereof, thereby providing a pulley of minimum width invrelation to the size of the V-belt groove, said pulley being provided with a centraltapering shaft-receiving opening having tapering threads extending entirely is securely locked on the shaft against axialandrotational movement relativeto the shaft in one direction of move 'i ment, socket means formed on one face of said pulley and Vrneanson said shaft to facilitate rotationof the pulley relative to the shaft, thereby t6' lock and remove the pulley Barrow Sept.v 22, 1891 Greaves Jne 3, 1913 Prouty et a1. June 14, 1932 Carlin et al Apr. 24, 1951 Payne Oct. 23, 1956 

